Expanding Universe
E X P A N D I N G U N I V E R S E Set 25 years after the second arc. SilkWings, HiveWings, and a few LeafWings are now included in JMA. C H A R A C T E R S MAIN CHARACTERS DoD Former Jade Winglet (now teaching at JMA) Antheraea Crayfish Circinae Dromedary Puffin Stinger Atlas SUPPORTING CHARACTERS Morpho Swallowtail Moonstreak Kingfisher Floret (Floret) Starry Night (Sbyman) P R O L O G U E 1 year after the second arc . . . Moon was flying with Qibli. They had three other dragons with them: Kinkajou, Turtle, and Luna. It had been a year, but they would be finally going back to Pyrrhia. Luna, a SilkWing dragoness, was coming with them to help bring the two continents together. Moon sighed. I learned so much from staying with the SilkWings. Their libraries, their schools, everything was so advanced and we never knew it existed before now. And we stopped the war. We've done so much, and I've learned so many new things. Qibli learned more than he knew before. Turtle found a way to use his powers for good things. Kinkajou became more mature. We've all changed. She looked at the moons and the dragons flying with her. When we return to Pyrrhia, how different will things be? Qibli saw the look on her face and said, "Moon, we'll all miss Pantela. But think of how much our world can change with all the tribes working together! This doesn't have to be the last time we see them, and you know it. You've probably had a vision about it already." Moon sighed and nodded. "Yes, I had a vision. And I keep having it. Whenever I have it-" she broke off. A vision headache was trying to explode her head. Then she began to see it again. "Dragons of both continents together Can save the world and make it better Away from home, five SilkWings will be In the mountain of Jade they will find the first key An eye of copper you will find The second key will be found by the blind As you come close, the third key appears Race to find the Eye before it disappears Crystal keys and copper eyes Find the map or face your demise." Qibli blinked. Finally he said, "Do you know what it means?" Moon shook her head. "I wish I could make sense of it. What in the moons is a copper eye? Or a crystal key? And what map? What demise? I have so many questions, but no way to get answers," she said. Qibli brushed wings with her. He looked into her eyes and said, "Moon, we can figure this out together. Besides, I think I found the first clue. Remember that line about SilkWings? Away from home, five SilkWings will be. There are five winglets, so maybe we have to put a SilkWing in every winglet!" Moon smiled. "Typical you, figuring everything out." She poked him in the side before saying, "Tag! You're it!" She flew away giggling as he flew after her. C H A P T E R 1 Antheraea was nervous, but also excited. She had been invited to Jade Mountain Academy! Her brother, Atlas, had been invited too, so that would make things better. She would get to meet Moon, and Qibli, and Turtle, and Sunny, and all the others too! She saw the twin peaks in the distance. Atlas did too. "We're almost there!" he exclaimed. Antheraea replied, "Are you nervous?" Her brother looked at her like she was crazy. "Nervous?!? Why would I be nervous?" he asked. They continued this discussion until they were within sight of the entrance. Then Atlas said, "Shush! We're here!" They landed, and almost immediately Sunny came up to meet them. "Hi there! Welcome to Jade Mountain Academy!" she said. She handed each of them two scrolls. She said cheerfully, "The first scroll is the schedule for your winglet, and the second scroll is a map of the school." Antheraea looked at the schedule scroll. It read: Jade Winglet Schedule Breakfast/Free Time '' ''Homeroom History '' ''Herbs and Healing Free Time Lunch Language Arts Self Defense Free Time '' ''Dinner Tribal Abilities Study Time Free Time Lights Out Atlas looked over her shoulder. "Oh, you're in the Jade Winglet? Cool! We have history together. I'm in the Gold Winglet," he said. Sunny said, "Atlas, you're in the second tunnel on the left, third cave in the right. Antheraea, you're in the first tunnel on the right, fourth cave in the left." Antheraea nodded. Atlas said , "Thanks, Sunny!" The SandWing/NightWing said to Antheraea, "Classes start tomorrow. Have a great day and feel free to explore the school today and every day!" Antheraea nodded with a smile and went to find her sleeping cave. Antheraea and her brother had gotten there in the morning, before many other students came. I guess this cave is all mine for now, she thought. She saw a silk hammock from Pantala, now grown here in the small Pantelan cities that had sprung up. She put her welcome scrolls in the empty rack beside her new bed. She saw two full scroll racks by the entryway. She looked at one and found a lot of scrolls she liked. She took one off, Animus History, and began reading it. She always liked to read about animus magic because it was foreign and mysterious to her tribe. She had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually she got hungry and went to the prey center. She took a few coconuts from a pile of fruit and ate them. She had been sitting alone as she got to her third coconut, but then a cheerful MudWing came over. He sat down with a mango in his claws. "Hi! I'm Crayfish," he said. "I'm in the Jade Winglet. What winglet are you in?" he asked. Antheraea replied, "I'm in the Jade Winglet too. My brother is in the Gold Winglet." Crayfish smiled. "Awesome! One of my sisters is here. She's in the Quartz Winglet. I'll have Tribal Abilities with her. What class are you most excited for?" Antheraea thought for a minute. "Maybe History. My family lives in the SilkWing village on the Talon Peninsula, but we moved there only a year ago. I want to learn all about Pyrrhia's history. And we might have Pantelan history too!" They both smiled. Slowly but surely, Antheraea began to feel more comfortable at Jade Mountain Academy. Crayfish explored with her, and they were taking a break in the library before going deeper into the mountain. Crayfish was reading about scavengers. Antheraea was reading about plants. They sat together near one of the windows. For a while they say and read, until Crayfish got fidgety. "Do you want to explore now?" he asked. Antheraea said, "Sure! I can't wait to see beyond the classroom tunnels." She walked off with the MudWing to explore the tunnels. They found multiple underwater lakes, often with holes in the roof. There were plenty of caves with cool rocks. Once Crayfish found a diamond, and another time Antheraea found some pyrite. They searched the caves for interesting trinkets, and they found plenty. One cave had some tattered, scorched maps and bits of scrolls. Another cave had hidden jewelry, some of which they took. Antheraea took a copper armband that really accented her purple wings. Crayfish took a thin gold tailband. But the most interesting thing they found was a chest. It was very old, from the looks of it. There was silver trim and a silver clasp. As they left the cave, Antheraea couldn't shake the feeling that the chest would be very important to her destiny . . . if she could even find it again. Crayfish went to the library, and Antheraea went to her cave. As she walked in, she saw a dusty gold SandWing lounging in a pile of sand. She saw her silky hammock and down. The SandWing said, "Hey there! My name is Dromedary. What's yours?" "Antheraea," she said, her lavender wings twitching. "Nice name!" Dromedary said before lying down again. A grouchy orange SkyWing stomped into their cave. "I'm Circinae," she growled. "And right now, I want some peace and quiet. So please leave me alone." Antheraea nodded, and Dromedary shrugged. Antheraea motioned for her clawmate to follow her, and she walked out of their cave. She decided to go to the library. Crayfish would be there, and she liked to read. When she walked in, she was stunned. There was a green glow, and beautiful flowers were everywhere. Crayfish came up beside her and smiled. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" He said it in a way that wasn't quite a question, but not a statement either. "Yes, it is," Antheraea replied. They stood like that for a minute, their wings almost brushing, until Starflight said, "Welcome to the library! I can help you find scrolls of you need help." Anthereaea politely said thank you, and then started browsing the scrolls. "Ooh!" she exclaimed. "A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of Pyrrhia! I've always liked animals." Crayfish said, "I checked out Dangers of the Rainforest. It's surprising how many things there are that can hurt you! Quicksand, poisionous snakes, mushrooms, tree frogs, pythons, and lots more." Antheraea smiled. "Well, you'll be well prepared if you ever go there." They both grinned for a moment before turning back to their scrolls. After a few hours, a very pale blue IceWing came to the library. He called out to Starflight, "Hey, um, Starflight? Need any help in here?" The blind NightWing replied, "I do have one job that I could use some help with . . . Can you help me organize the name scrolls?" The IceWing, Puffin, responded, "Of course!" When he briefly turned in her direction, she saw his eyes and was shocked. Instead of the usual dark eyes, his eyes were a crisp sky blue. She turned to Crayfish and whispered, "What's wrong with his eyes?" He poked her with his tail. "Don't be rude!" he exclaimed. Then they both got quiet and read for awhile. Antheraea's scroll was so interesting that she read for a few hours before realizing how hungry she was. She turned to Crayfish and asked, "Do you want to get something to eat? I'm pretty hungry." As they walked out, Puffin called to them. "Wait for me!" he said. Crayfish and Antheraea paused so that the IceWing could catch up. They had some nice conversation as they ate, and Antheraea was satisfied. She went to her cave, ready to sleep. Dromedary was still hanging out with the other SandWings in the music cave, but Circinae was there. She collapsed on her silk hammock and fell asleep almost instantly. C H A P T E R 2 The next morning, she awoke feeling refreshed. She could see through a small opening in their cave that it was only dawn, but she stretched and walked out of the cave anyways. As she was walking out of her cave, she nearly collided with a gold and black HiveWing. He was kinda cute, and his expression was hilarious. "I'm sorry," he said. "I should have looked where I was going." Antheraea stuttered, "N-no, it's fine. I should have been more careful." He smiled, just a little. "Nice to meet you, " he said. "I'm Stinger. What's your name?" "Antheraea," she replied. He looked kind of sad, so she decided to ask a question. "Um . . . you look sad. Why?" He sighed. "I was just thinking." "What were you thinking about?" she asked. "My sister. I haven't seen her in five years. I had a dream, a really strange dream, and she was in it." "Really?" she said. "Cool!" Then she thought of something. "Did she happen to have a blue jewel with her? A star-shaped blue sapphire?" Stinger's eyes widened. "I didn't think of that . . . Maybe she really did dreamvisit me." They both stood in uncomfortable silence for a few seconds. "Remember red!" Stinger suddenly blurted. Antheraea gave him a confused look. "What?" she said, puzzled. "Widow said 'remember red'. I know it's important, but I can't remember what it is yet." Antheraea stood there trying to think about what it might mean, and then Stinger shrugged. "It'll come back to me eventually," he said. Her stomach rumbled, and Antheraea realized she was hungry. "I think I'm goimg to go grab some breakfast," she said. "Really? I was just thinking about getting something to eat too!" he replied. THey both chuckled. "Let me see if either of my clawmates want to join us," she said. SHe poked her head into her cave, but Circinae and Dromedary were both fast asleep. "I guess it's just us, then," she said. He nodded, and they walked off towards the prey center. The walk there was a bit awkward, mostly because Antheraea didn't know what to say. WHen they got there, she grabbed a few bananas and started peeling them. Stinger took a minute to chase down a chicken and kill it. "I'm actually not a big fan of birds," he said, "But this looled like the easiest thing to catch." Antheraea nodded. "I don't really eat meat," she replied. "I've heard that all SilkWings are vegitarians," he said. "But something I've been curious about is have you ever tried meat?" She had to sit and think about that for a minute. "I don't think I ever have,” she replied. "Have you eaten fruit before?" she countered. Maybe he never had, considering his carnivorous lifestyle. "I have indeed," he replied. "In fact, I got to try a mango yesterday and I thought it was great. I just like meat a little better." They debated about whether fruit was better than meat or not for what was probably at least an hour, and when they were dome with their breakfast, the sun was fully off the horizon. As they were about to continue their discussion after cleaning up their eating places, the gong rang three times. "Oh, moons!" Stinger exclaimed. I guess that must be the warning bell. We better head to class." They were both in the Jade Winglet, so they walked down to their homeroom together. When they got there, Antheraea spotted Circinae's orange scales, and Crayfish's familiar brown. Dromedary came into the room a little bit after Stinger amd Antheraea, chatting with a female RainWing. C H A P T E R 3